Familiar of Zero: The Stories that could never be
by VulcanicaDraskir
Summary: A collection of oneshots for stories or crossovers with FoZ that I think would be cool, but wouldn't be able to actually make a full story. Might follow up on certain chapters if they are well enough received, but don't expect any full stories here. Rated T, but may not be necessary as of yet.


**Author Note:**

 _Hey! I'm back. Unfortunately, this isn't an update to Beauty of Dawn. I'm currently stuck there, I've got no idea how to start the next arc._

 _This is going to be a series of one shots, not unlike the "Familiars of Zero" by Corvus no Genmu. It will really only consist of things that I can think of, but can't make an entire series out of. The scenes will rarely be connected together in story fashion, most likely jumping over things that I couldn't figure out how to write._

 _I.E. in this sample, the summoning scene will be immediately followed by the obligatory Guiche Duel scene._

 _First up is a Terraria crossover!_

 _Player name: Terra_  
 _Armor: Stardust set_  
 _Social: Familiar/Spectre sets_  
 _Favored Melee weps:[True Excalibur][True Night's Edge][Terra Blade][Terrarian][Night's Edge/Excalibur base]_  
 _Favored Magic spells:[Magnet Sphere][Razorblade Typhoon][Nebula Blaze][Demon Sickle]_  
 _Favored Ranged weps:[Phantasm bow][Flamarang][Shurikens][Phoenix blaster w/ crystal bullets]_  
 _Favored Summons:[Stardust guardian][Stardust Dragon w/ all segments]_

 _Tools:_  
 _-Lunar Hook_  
 _-Wisp in a bottle_

 _Accessories:_  
 _-Ankh Shield_  
 _-Hermese Boots_  
 _-Fishron Wings[Social Reskin: Spectre wings]_  
 _-Charm of Myths_  
 _-Celestial Stone_

 _Terra is able to use the Terrarian Game interface and all of it's rules and intricacies. Items, objects, weapons,_  
 _and everything from the game itself are available to him as a Terrarian. This is because Terraria herself wants to make things easier for her 'champions'. That last sentence will be explained by Terra himself, in the story._

 _Also, please be aware that I feel like Guiche should be a bit more powerful than he usually is displayed, even in the original series. He's the son of a general, after all, so I'm going to write him as such._

 _Hajimeyo!_

* * *

The explosion rocked through the earth, nearly knocking everyone off of their feet.

In Tristain's Magic Academy, when a student is promoted to second year, they are required to summon a familiar. This familiar summoning ritual is a sacred rite that determines a mage's lifelong companion, and will indicate which of the four elements the mage will be attuned to.

What element could a young mage be attuned to, when every spell she attempts ends in failure? Even now, attempting the familiar summon only resulted in yet another explosion. Such as it was for Louise Françiose le Blanc de la Vallière, who had never successfully cast a single spell in all her life, earning the title of 'The Zero' amongst her peers. Even this latest failure sent the usual whispers and murmurs running amok.

"Was this explosion bigger than before?" muttered Montmeroncy, a long haired blonde. Her boyfriend, a blonde fop, scoffed nearby.

"Probably the result of that strange chant of hers," murmured Guiche, brandishing his rose wand as he eyed the dust cloud that lay before them. Louise simply wasn't able to figure out what Montmeroncy saw in the blonde; all Louise saw was an annoying skirt chaser. She had long since learned to tune out the whispers of the majority of her classmates. Except for one.

"Oh my, isn't that just like you?" mocked a red headed Germanian with excessive chest fat. Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt-Zerbst was Louise's rival. Their families were locked in an unending feud, one which Louise and Kirche always seemed happy to continue. Much to their classmates' chagrin. "Little Louise the Zero, have you summoned an explosion as a familiar?"

"Oh, shut up, Zerbst!" snarled Louise, glaring daggers at her red haired rival, tearing her eyes away from the large dust cloud. "I just need to try again!"

Kirche scoffed and opened her mouth to reply. She was quickly silenced by the gust of wind that blew the cloud of dust away, as courtesy of the class' teacher, Professor Colbert, a balding man clad in blue robes and wielding a staff. This would be considered a normal act, if not for what was revealed at the center of where the cloud was. A young man lounged there, sleeping as if without a care in the world. He jerked awake, however, as the crowd of students erupted into laughter. Louise herself could only gape as the man sat up, looking about as if confused.

"I summoned a commoner...?" Louise breathed, not daring to believe the dreadful sight that her eyes fed her. Just saying it aloud numbed her completely, even as it sent her classmates into ever louder laughter. The man stood up, finally allowing the spectators a full look at his attire which consisted of a solid white shirt and rough looking light blue trousers. He wore a black, long sleeved coat that stretched down well past his knees.

"Oh, this is even better!" joked Kirche, laughing to hard to even speak properly. "Our little Zero summoned a foreign commoner!"

"I just messed up a little!" shouted Louise, panicking at the thought of taking this strange man as a familiar as she whirled to face Colbert. "Professor, please! Let me try again!"

"I'm afraid I cannot allow that, Miss Vallière," sighed the Professor, gazing at the strange summon with curiosity. "Summoning your familiar is a sacred rite of passage, as you well know. Attempting the summon again would be nothing short of blasphemy."

"But..."

"No buts, Miss Vallière. Please complete the ritual."

Defeated, Louise turned back to the strange man who was now eyeing her suspiciously. Another peal of laughter went around her classmates as Louise prepared the binding spell, pressing her wand against the man's forehead and speaking the incantation.

 _"Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers, grant your blessings upon the being and bind him as my familiar."_

And then she kissed him. It surprised him, rightly so, but it was a chaste kiss that lasted only a moment. Even before it was over, he could feel a strange energy coursing through him, most prominently across his forehead. Moments passed and the energy gave way to pain as a light shined from his forehead. He could feel strange markings etching themselves across his visage, and then it was over. The pain and light both faded as quickly as they appeared, and checking his handy mirror revealed the strange runes that were etched into his forehead.

"Congratulations, Miss Vallière, you have successfully bound your familiar," said the Professor, smiling at Louise's first real success. "Class will be dismissed for the rest of the day, as well as all of tomorrow. You must use this time to bond with your familiars. Class will start once again after the Day of Void."

Louise could only groan in response as the rest of the class departed, floating away. She had wanted something coo, like a dragon! Even a griffin or a manticore would have been acceptable, not some strange commoner!

"You look a little disappointed there," commented the young man, startling Louise. It was the first time he had spoken since his summoning. Louise stared for a moment before turning away with a huff.

"Of course I am," Louise stated simply, walking away. "Come along, familiar."

"Are you just gonna call me familiar all the time?" asked the man, trailing after Louise, who promptly whirled on him.

"I should think so, because that's what you are," spat Louise angrily, glaring at her familiar, who stared back blankly. "Any further outbursts and you will not get dinner."

"I don't need to eat, actually, so that threat is quite empty," quipped the man, shrugging his shoulders. "I also don't need to sleep, either. Care to try again?"

"You- what? You don't eat or sleep?" Louise recoiled, startled out of her anger.

"Not usually. I don't need to, but I do so anyways just because it's enjoyable."

Louise just stared, attempting to process this new information.

"Anyway, why aren't you flying?" asked the man. "Everyone else flew away, why not you?"

This snapped Louise out of her stupor, causing her to turn away in a huff. "I cannot."

"Why not?"

"Because I can't cast magic."

"You summoned me. I get that I'm not all that impressive, but you got something. Or does that not count?"

Louise whirled on the man again, ready to rant at him until she saw the genuine confusion on his face. She sighed, swallowing her anger as she explained.

"Every spell I have ever attempted has ended in an explosive failure."

"Ah... so you can't go flying."

"Correct."

"Well... back to the other topic, I'd rather you didn't call me 'familiar' all the time," said the man, folding his arms. "If you're gonna call me anything, call me Terra."

"I will call you familiar, because that's what you are," repeated Louise tiredly, resuming her walk back to the academy. "And you will address me as 'Master'. What kind of name is 'Terra' anyway?"

"One I just made up right now," commented Terra dryly as he followed behind Louise closely. "I've long since forgotten my real name."

"Truly?" Louise marveled at the thought of one being unable to remember their name, before shaking her head and returning to more important thoughts. "It is unimportant. If you are to be my familiar, then I suppose I must put you to work..."

"Of course..." Louise missed the annoyed tone in Terra's voice, and the two remained silent in their trip back to the academy.

* * *

Terra stood across from Guiche in the Vestri Courtyard. The two were surrounded by a large number of students. Word traveled fast in this school, Terra noted. Louise watched nearby, fearful for her familiar's safety. She had tried dissuading Terra from this foolish venture, but Terra was resolved to fight Guiche.

"I commend you for not running away, commoner," drawled Guiche, posing for the crowd, eliciting swoons from many of the younger girls.

"Let's just get this over with, eh?" sighed Terra, appearing rather bored, much to Guiche's chagrin.

"Hmm... who am I to ignore the foolish request of a commoner?" Guiche brandished his rose again, casting a single petal into the ground. "I am known as Guiche the Bronze, therefore the Bronze Valkyrie shall be your opponent." As he spoke, a shiny bronze golem rose out of the ground where the petal fell only moments before.

"Introductions, eh? I guess you can call me Terra." With that, Terra brought up his inventory and switched his Stardust Helmet into his helmet slot, summoning the Stardust Guardian behind his back, causing gasps and murmurs to run rampant through the crowd of spectators. "If we're fighting with minions here, I'll use my Stardust Guardian." The Guardian faded and reappeared in front of Terra, ready to fight.

Guiche and Louise both simply stared, slack jawed. Terra rolled his eyes and spoke. "Look, if you've got questions, fair enough. I'll answer them later. For right now, we've got a duel going on, right?"

"Tch, I suppose you are right..." Guiche glared at Terra before sending his Valkyrie in to attack. Said Valkyrie was promptly pummeled into the ground by the Guardian's fist. Guiche supposed it was to be expected, as the first Valkyrie was meant to test his opponent's attack. He summoned a group of three this time, and sent them charging.

The area lit up slightly as the Guardian let out an energy burst that sent all three Valkyries flying backwards, in pieces no less. Growling, Guiche set up six more golems, only for them to be quickly thrashed by the Guardian.

"Grr... Stop hiding behind your Guardian, you coward!" shouted Guiche, thoroughly frustrated by this turn of events. This was supposed to restore his pride, and yet he was losing miserably, never mind that it was against a commoner! What's more, the beautiful Kirche and her unassuming companion Tabitha both laid their attentions directly at Terra, as if he were more impressive!

"I'll stop hiding behind my Guardian, when you stop hiding behind your Valkyries," said Terra simply, remaining still in his position. The tone of his voice set Louise on edge, and her fear vanished into nothing. "If you summon minions to fight, then I'll do the same. If you decide to throw a spell at me, then I'll send one back at you. But if you expect me to draw my sword, then _you'd best be ready to do the same."_

Growling once again, Guiche quickly summoned a blade. Terra, pleased at the chance to draw his own weapon, reached beneath into his coat to draw his sword. It was a deep purple, glowing with a dark energy. Taking it in one hand, Terra readied his blade as Guiche did the same. Unbeknownst to them,

"What kind of weapon is that?" asked Guiche, eyeing Terra's blade suspiciously.

"It's known only as Night's Edge."

"An interesting name for a blade..."

"I didn't name it. Now, are we going to fight or not?"

Guiche didn't reply. He and Terra simply stared each other down for a few more moments. After tiring of the staring contest, Guiche advanced as quickly as he could, readying his blade to strike Terra down. Unsurprisingly, Terra blocked easily with his blade, knocking it aside to make room for his own strike. Guiche backed away quickly to dodge, backpedaling away from a series of strikes. After dodging to the side of an uppercut, Guiche made to thrust his blade forth, past Terra's defense, only for it to meet the surface of a shield that appeared from nowhere. Guiche retreated once again, only to gawk at the shield that was now _floating_ in front of Terra's left hand.

"Surprised?" Terra asked, raising one eyebrow. "It's called the Ankh Shield." Without another word, Terra dashed forward, creating cloud-like trails at his feet. Guiche raised his blade to block Terra's own, but was propelled backwards further. After closing the distance a second time, Terra lined up several strikes, the last of which knocked Guiche skyward.

Guiche, now in the air, cast a simple levitation spell, allowing him to stop descent before it began. Terra immediately turned to a nearby wall and shot his left hand out, throwing a bright orange chain that pulled him towards the top of the wall. Reaching the height, a pair of white spectral wings unfurled from Terra's back, allowing him to fly higher still. Terra readied his blade as he flew, and he clashed with Guiche mid-air at high speed, startling the young fop quite thoroughly as he flew by. Turning around, Terra flew back towards Guiche and struck again, this time knocking Guiche back down to the ground, causing the fop to cry out as he collided with the grass and dirt.

Terra himself just remained in place, his forehead runes glowing lightly as he stared down at his dueling partner.

"Are you scared?" asked Terra.

"No way!" Guiche growled in response, glaring up at Terra.

"Why not?" Terra responded. "I know I am."

"You're scared? Of what, winning!?" Terra didn't respond, provoking a growl from Guiche. "It doesn't matter how strong you are! If you're so scared, then you'll never be able to win! Behold, the power of one unafraid to reach his potential!" Guiche waved his rose and six petals fell to the ground. The ground beneath his feet began to quake as not six golems, but one giant Valkyrie rose out of the ground. Standing at fifteen meters tall and wielding an equally long halberd in it's hands, Guiche stood upon it's shoulder with a triumphant smirk.

"Well, you've got a strong will, at least," chuckled Terra as the giant readied its halberd to strike. Terra swung his Night's Edge straight through the shaft of the massive weapon, splitting it in half, before switching to a powerful spell, his Nebula Blaze. Terra backed away and shot a hail of pink cosmic fists down at the giant, targeting joints, before finishing with the special Nebula Blaze Ex that broke the giant apart in a large explosion that kicked up a large dust cloud.

As the cloud faded away, Terra could be seen standing atop a piece of the massive halberd shaft that stood almost straight up. Guiche was kneeling atop the wreckage of his giant Valkyrie, staring slack jawed at the pile of rubble that he was currently on top of.

"Why didn't you feel fear during this duel?" Terra asked, startling Guiche out of his stupor. Guiche just stared, unable to respond. "Fear is necessary. To wield power without fear, is to be on the same level as the darkness that I exist to battle. Y'see... those who don't fear the power they wield, don't have a right to wield that power at all. This is the only way to prevent ourselves from abusing not only that power, but the people around us as well. Such is the _responsibility_ of _all_ who wield power."

* * *

It had been nearly a day since Terra and Guiche had fought, and both had received a stern talking to from the headmaster and several teachers. The two had been forced to work together to clean up the mess they made, and without magic too.

Terra and Louise were seated at a table, sipping tea that Siesta had set out for them before retreating to a respectable distance.

"I suppose now would be the best time for answers, then?" asked Terra calmly, doing little to calm Louise's nerves as she nodded shakily.

"Before that though..." Louise started, willing herself to calm down. She jerked a thumb at the guests that shared their table with them. "Why are _they_ here!?" Louise turned and glared daggers at Guiche, Kirche and Tabitha.

"Hmm? I promised Guiche answers too," Terra noted calmly before regarding Kirche and Tabitha. "I'm not too sure about the ladies, though."

"I wanna know what's going on too~" stated Kirche in a singsong voice, attempting to scoot closer to Terra. Terra just scooted away in response, eliciting a small moan of disappointment from the Germanian. "Tabitha just follows me around, so don't mind her either~" Louise turned away, growling slightly.

"Well, whatever. It just means I don't have to explain it again later," muttered Terra with a shake of his head. "It's like this. The universe is divided into light and darkness. Light is made up entirely of Purity, but Darkness is a little different. It's divided into Corruption, Crimson and Hallow. All of them are different from each other, but these three places share one thing in common. They all seek to encroach on the realm of Light." Terra paused for a moment, observing the rapt attention he held from his current companions.

"There's a middle ground. A focal point in the universe where Light and Darkness meet. It's a single realm called Terraria. As weird as it may sound, but Terraria is actually quite sentient. Sentient enough to choose and summon people to her and make them her champions."

"This... Terraria summons people to it? Or her?" asked Guiche with one eyebrow raised.

"Yeah. Terraria generally only chooses people who are... without purpose, as it were. The people that she chooses are humans, regular people who were abandoned in their original worlds. People who were alone and had nothing going for them. By summoning them to her, Terraria gives them purpose and strength, infusing them with her power and changing them into Terrarians, and setting them to fight the dark realms."

"Wait, are you the Terrarian? Like, _the_ Terrarian, from the old tales?" Louise suddenly exclaimed, appearing almost excited.

"No." Louise instantly deflated. "I'm _a_ Terrarian, not _the_ Terrarian. There's a difference." Terra took out a small green knicknack, laying it down on the table. " _The_ Terrarian was the first of us, the first to be chosen. Her body was corrupted when she fought a being known only as the Moon Lord, but her will lingered on in a little toy that she carried with her. That lingering will changed the toy into _this."_ Terra gestured at the green item. "It became one of the most powerful weapons in my collection."

" _This_ thing is a powerful weapon?" Guiche asked incredulously, picking up the item and turning it over in his hands, then passing it around to the others.

"Yeah, it's a nifty thing. Saved my life on more than one occasion." Terra returned The Terrarian to his inventory when Tabitha handed it to him. "Back on topic though, Terraria is split into many small fragments, with each fragment being 'governed' by a single Terrarian. Odd though it may be, at the start, each fragment will contain only Purity and Corruption _or_ Crimson, but never both at the same time. The Hallow comes in later for some arbitrary reason that I've yet to comprehend. Without a Terrarian to guard each fragment of Terraria, the Darkness will inevitably leak out into the realm of light."

"And I've pulled you away from yours..." Louise mumbled, looking horrified for a moment.

"Don't worry, it's not like I can't go back," Terra stated bluntly. "I have a device that lets me teleport back whenever I need to, so I can go back and do my thing while you're asleep. Remember, I don't need sleep."

Louise visibly calmed after this, but still seemed unnerved but it all.

"Oooh, if you can go back whenever you want, would you take me with you?" begged Kirche excitedly. "I'd love the chance to see a place like this Terraria!"

"That's not my choice," replied Terra, "In all of history, only Terraria has ever chosen who can enter her isles. I'd rather not break that tradition. As of yet, Terraria is only considering allowing Louise entry."

"Why would little Louise the Zero be allowed to go, but not me?" Kirche half joked, half pouted.

"Consider this," Terra started, folding his arms, "I'm a Terrarian, an agent chosen by Terraria, to fight on her behalf. Louise, by summoning me, was able to interfere with Terraria's will, and forcefully remove me from Terraria." Louise paled at the thought.

"Oh no..." Louise started panicking, "Please tell me I haven't upset a sentient _world..."_

"Don't worry, you're fine, " chided Terra, waving his hand. "You didn't _mean_ to summon me. You interfered with Terraria's will. If you had done so intentionally, you'd have earned her ire. But you didn't; you summoned me _unintentionally,_ and as such, earned her respect instead. Terraria may actually consider you to be her first Halkeginian Champion as a direct result.

* * *

 **Post Note:**

 _Well, that's out of the way. I literally just wrote this out in the span of three or four hours. Let me know what you guys think! I can probably do another scene or two, set later on, but I definitely can't do a full story._

 _There was also an alternate version of this character where Terra had a little sister named Ellie, who he thought was killed because he couldn't protect her, but was actually summoned by Tiffania, but that didn't seem right for a short version._

 _Let me know if you guys want to see other short stories that feature snippets. I've got an idea for a Bloodborne crossover, which I'll probably be doing at some point soon._

 _Finally, shoot me a message via PM if you have an idea or suggestion for Beauty of Dawn. I really want to get back to that, but I just can't think of any ways to get it started._


End file.
